Method of scarfing metal slabs



June 5, 1951 1 L ANDERSON 2,555,527

METHOD OF' SCARFING METAL SLABS Filed April l, 1947 5 Sheets-Shea?l l @a @im I'mlf 'a if. l T7 L FIG.I

1 ,F Mm All 3 N HVENTOR BY y @d la www ATTO RNEYS June 5, 1951 ANDERSON 2,555,527

METHOD 0F' SCARFING METAL SLABS ATTO R N EY'S June 5, 1951 1 L ANDERSQN 2,555,527

METHOD OF SCARF'ING METAL SLABS Filed April 1, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS June 5, 1951 J. L. ANDERSON 2,555,527

METHOD oF scARING METAL sLABs Filed April l, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Flc-:.6 64

"uuml INVENTOR JAMES L. NDFRSO/V ATTORNEYS June 5, 1951 J. L.. ANDERSON 2,555,527

METHOD oF scARFING METAL sLABs Filed April 1, 1947 5 sheets-sheet 5 lNvENToR JAMES L NORSOW ATTORNEYS Patented June 5, 1951 METHOD F SCARFING METAL SLABS James L. Anderson, Closter, N. J., assignor to Air Reduction Company, Incorporated, a corporation of New York Application April 1, 1947, Serial No. 738,757

2 Claims. 1 This invention relates to an improved method of scarng metal slabs. By scarfing is meant rojecting a row of oxygen jets at an angle against the work surface to be scarfed while the metal is at kindlng temperature, and moving the work past the jets to progressively remove the surface metal by thermo-chemical action.

Heretofore, in scarfing relatively wide slabs it has been the custom to pass the slab through the scarng machine in a horizontal position and scarf the bottom face only in one pass through the machine, then return the slab, turn it over, and pass it through the machine a second time to scarf the opposite face. The reason why it has not been practicable to scarf the top face of the slab is that molten slag forms in a puddle in front of the oxygen jets and becomes of considerable size due to the relatively great width of the slab. The puddle is pushed along in front of the oxygen jets and eventually runs off the sides and end of the slab and down over the mill rolls on which the slab is supported. The slag sticks to the rolls and creates an undesirable condition. This is not avoided when scarf-lng wide slabs in mills where the distance between successive rolls is short even if the oxygen jets are obliquely directed toward one edge of the slab to blow the molten slag toward and over such edge, because all of the slag can not be blown laterally off the slab in this manner within the distance between successive rolls. There is no similar problem in scaling the bottom face of a slab because the slag drops off the work by gravity directly into the pit and the ilying slag blown off of the slab surfaces by the oxygen jets can be stopped by a baliie in front of the mill roll ahead of the scarng area and it will fall harmlessly into the slag pit.

The principal object of this invention is to make it possible to scarf both wide faces of a slab simultaneously, or all four faces if desired, without the slag getting on the mill rolls.

This object is attained by manipulating a slab that is being fed to the scarng station in a hori zontal position to turn it on edge to a vertical positon, and scarng the wide faces of the slab while they are in vertical position, and also the top and bottom edge faces if desired. Thus the molten slag from the wides faces is carried olf rapidly by gravity, which may be assisted by having the scaring jets directed downward as well as at an angle toward the slab faces. After the slab has passed the scarng means it is returned to horizontal position and allowed to pass on to the next mill operation.

(Cl. 14S-9.5)

Apparatus suitable for use in carrying out the method is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a slab mill with scarng apparatus embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the scarfing apparatus shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View showing part of the scarring means and a slab being scarfed thereby;

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. l;

Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 'I 'l of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. l.

As shown in the drawings, a series of horizontal feed rolls I I support and drive a slab (not shown) between the heads I2 and I3 of a manipulator. These heads are movable horizontally in a direction parallel to the axes of the rolls I I. The head I3 is secured to two bars I4 whose undersides have rack teeth engaging pinions secured to a shaft I5. The shaft I5 is driven by a motor I6 through a coupling I'l and a set of reduction gears enclosed in a housing I8. Thus rotation of the motor I6 causes rotation of the shaft I5, moving the manipulator head I3 horizontally above the rolls II.

The head I2 is moved in a manner similar to the head I3. A motor I9 drives reduction gears enclosed in a housing 2D, rotating a shaft 21|. The shaft 2| has pinions attached which engage the rack teeth on the bars 22 to which the head I2 is rigidly secured. Thus rotation of the motor I9 produces horizontal motion of the head I2 in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the slab.

Pivotally mounted in bearings 23 on the head I2 is a shaft 24 to which bell cranks 25 are rigidly attached. These cranks pivotally support hook members 26 which lie in recesses in the manipulator head I2'. The hooked portions of the members 26 fit between rolls and can be lowered below the plane of the mill table (Fig. 5). Two

, motors 21 and 2l' (Fig. 1) are connected by spur gears 28 to a shaft 29 and a gear train 30 to rotate the cranks 3l in one direction or the other. These cranks 3l are connected to the upper ends of the bell cranks 25 by links 32 and movement of the cranks 3| is transmitted through the links 3 32 and bell cranks 25v to the hook members 25. By combining the motions of the manipulator heads and the hook members 26, a slab can be turned on edge or turned over as desired. Such manipulators are well known in the art.

The scarring heads are carried by carriages best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A carriage 33 is propelled along a track 35 by a motor 37 which is remotely controlled by the operator. The carriage has an axle 38 connected to driving wheels 3S, and there is a worm wheel @ii secured on the axle 38. The worm wheel is engaged by a worm 4I rotated by the motor Si through a bevel gear train A2. A bracket (Fig. 8) holds a block Lili close to one side of the carriage to prevent the moving slab from tipping the carriage when the carriage is in operative position. Another carriage 3Q on the other side of the mill table is propelled along a track zSii `by mechanism similar to that of the carriage 3S.

Mounted on the base of the carriage 33 is an air motor (Figs. 2 and 3) which movably supports a frame 5. A counterweight lli, acting through a system of pulleys 113, partially relieves the load on the air motor 45. The frame liti is guided in its vertical movement by pins 4S extending from the frame i5 and running in slots El) in the carriage walls. The frame 46 carries an air motor El which is connected to the scarfing head 52. A stop 53 limits the upward travel of the frame to prevent the lower scarng tip from rising above the roll table level. Two guide rods Ell are als-o connected to the scarng head 52 and support it from the frame 5.16. These guide rods d slide in the frame 45 to permit movement of the scariing head 52 transversely of the mill table when the motor 5I is actuated.

The scarring head 52 which is supported from the carriage 33 com-prises a support bar 55 and the attached tips 56 for scarring both a vertical face and the bottom edge face of a slab when the slab is in the vertical position shown. Gas lines are sho-wn for supplying oxygen and acetylene to the scarng heads. rihe torch tips may be of the block type and preferably have their oxygen streams directed not only at an angle to the slab faces being scarred but also at an angle to the direction of motion of the slab as shown in Fig. 4.

It is evident that with the above described apparatus the carriage 33 can be moved in or out of the scarring area by means of the motor 37 and the scarng head can be positioned vertically or horizontally by manipulation of the motors 45 and 5i. This universal movement allows the scarring head 52 to be positioned against the slab being scarfed and to follow irregularitiesin the size and shape of the workpiece.

The carriage 3ft similarly supports a scarng head 59 which serves to remove the surface metal from the other verticalriace and the top edge face of the slab.

The downward inclination of the jets acting on.` the wide vertical faces of the slab assists gravity in rapidly deflecting the slag down between successive rolls of the mill table, and the lateral inclination of the jets acting on the narrow top edge face of the slab blows the slag off this face within the longitudinal distance between mill rolls.

The carriages and hence the searng heads are oiset one from the other, as sho-wn in FigjS, to allow the heads to close sutliciently around a slab to accommodate considerable tolerance in the dimensions of the slab. The trailing head 52 scarfs that wide 4vertical face toward which the slag from the top edge face is directed (Fig. 4).

A. series of horizontal feed rolls Ei() (Fig. l), similar to rolls II, support and drive the workpiece beyond the scarng area. These rolls, as well as the feed rolls iI, may be power driven in accordance with conventional practice. A series of'xed vertical rolls 6I and movable vertical rolls 62 are provided to guide the slab as it emerges from the scariing area. The water curtains for slag quenching are not shown since Vtheir illustration is not necessary for a complete understanding of this invention.

The fixed vertical rolls 5i (Fig. 6) are supported by stationary webbed brackets 63. The movable vertical rolls t2 are supported by webbed brackets t4 which slide on tracks 65 (Fig. 8). Air motors ii advance and retract the movable vertical roll assemblies and are remotely controlled by the operator. The movable rolls S2 may be retracted far enough to permit a slab to pass through the apparatus while lying horizontally.

Alternately spaced between the vertical guide roll assemblies are handling units to lay the slab down from its vertical position to a horizontal position on the mill table. These handling units comprise two pivotally mounted arms 61 and 68 (Fig. 7) and their respective supports and drive mechanisms. The arms (Si are pivotally mounted at on brackets rigidly attached to the mill table fram-e. Short stroke air motors 1E) are mounted on brackets II behind the arms 6i and linked to the arms Si so that actuation of the motors .iii causes limited angular rotation of the arms 'i about the xed pivots 69.

The arms 68 pivot about the shaft I2 and each of the arms (it has a crank i3 extending below the shaft i2 and connected by a link lll to a crank 'E5 secured to a shaft iii. The shaft 'iii is driven by a motor il' through reduction gears i8, coupling i9, and a worm 3i! which engages a worm wheel 8l secured to the shaft i5.

The operation of the apparatus shown is as follows: A slab is conveyed along the mill table from left to right (Fig. l) and is positioned onV the rolls II between the manipulator heads I2 and I3 with its wide faces horizontal. To allow the slab to be positioned between the manipulator heads in this position, the heads'rnust be withdrawn to the edge of the mill table. By means of the remotely controlled motors I5 and I9 the manipulator heads are brought toward each other properly aligning the slab on the mill table for subsequent operations. 'The motor 2i is then energized causing rotation of the shaft 2e and upward movement of the hook members 25. This raises the edge of the slab, positioning the slab at a great enough angle to allow further advancement of the head I3, which pushes the slab before it, and causes the edge of the slab held up by the hook members 26 to slide up the face of the head I2. During this latter part of the manipulation of the slab, the motor 2T is operated to return the hook members 26 to their original positions. The head IS is advanced until it closes on the slab and puts the slab in a vertical position. The slab is then positioned, if

' necessary, in line with the scarng apparatus.

Rolls II then advance the slab in its vertical position to the scarring station. The scarng heads are brought into the scarng area by advancing the carriages 33 and y34. The airmotors 45, 45', 5i and 5I' (Fig. 2) are then actuated to position the scarfing heads against the slab. The

preheat flames are turned on to Ibring a portion of the slab to kindling temperature and then the scarng oxygen is started and the slab is advanced.

As the leading edge of the sla-b emerges from the scarring area it is guided by the vertical rolls 6| and 62 positioned as shown in Fig. 1. When the trailing edge of the slab leaves the scarng area, the gases are shut off and the slab brought to rest between the vertical rolls.

Arms 6l and 68 (Fig. 7) are vertically disposed and upon the withdrawal of the movable Vertical rolls E2, the arms 68 maintain the slab in its vertical position. To lay the slab down and prepare to pass it to the next mill operation the motor 'H is operated to tilt the arms 68 and the air motors 'lll are then actuated to tip the slab over against the arms 68. The motor 17 then is operated to rock the arms 68 about the shaft 12 and lower the slab to a horizontal position. Shaft 72 is below the plane of the mill table and the arms 66 travel down between the mill rolls to bring them free and clear of the slab on the table.

Should the election be made to pass a slab through the mill unscarfed, the carriages 33 and 34 are fully withdrawn as are the movable vertical rolls 62, and the arms 68 are put in their horizontal position clearing the mill for passage of a slab horizontally.

It will now be seen that the invention makes it possible to scarf both `wide faces of a slab simultaneously without slag getting on any of the mill rolls. In fact, all four faces of the slab may be scarfed simultaneously if desired without encountering this diiiiculty. This reduces the operation to one pass of the slab through the scarfing machine instead of two as heretofore which, of course, results in a considera-ble saving of time. While the invention makes it possible to scarf both wide faces of the slab simultaneously, only one of them may be scarfed while the slab is in vertical position should this be desired for any reason- When no scarng at all is required the slab may be passed through the entire apparatus in horizontal position.

I claim:

1. The method of scarring metal workpieces having a rectangular cross-section and having two relatively wide opposite faces each of which is too wide to be successfully scarred in a single pass as a top horizontal surface and having two relatively narrow opposite faces each of which is narrow enough to be successfully scar-fed in a single pass as a top horizontal surface, which comprises positioning the workpiece with said relatively wide surfaces disposed substantially vertically, advancing the workpiece while so positioned past the scarflng station and there directing scarng jets of oxygen simultaneously against both of the relatively Wide vertically disposed faces and against `both of the relatively narrow horizontally disposed faces.

2. The method of scarng metal workpieces having a rectangular cross-section and having two relatively wide opposite faces each of which is too wide to be successfully scarfed in a single pass as a top horizontal surface which comprises positioning the 'workpiece with said relatively Wide surfaces disposed substantially vertically, advancing the workpiece while so positioned past the scarng station and there directing scarng jets of oxygen simultaneously against both of the relatively wide vertically disposed faces.

JAMES L. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,500,336 Rogers et al. July 8, 1924 1,516,205 Osgood Nov. 18, 1924 2,072,121 Montgomery Mar. 2, 1937 2,125,177 Jones July 26, 1933 2,157,313 Alles et al May 9, 1939 2,168,581 Pufahl et al. Aug, 8, 1939 2,200,816 Anderson May 14, 1940 2,236,743 Anderson Apr. 1, 1941 2,271,213 Weidner et al. Jan 27, 1942 2,308,646 Chelborg Jan. 19, 1943 2,323,974 Bucknam et al July 13, 1943 2,346,718 Anderson Apr. 18, 1944 2,447,081 Miller et al Aug, 17, 1948 

1. THE METHOD OF SCARFING METAL WORKPIECES HAVING A RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION AND HAVING TWO RELATIVELY WIDE OPPOSITE FACES EACH OF WHICH IS TOO WIDE TO BE SUCCESSFULLY SCARFED IN A SINGLE PASS AS A TOP HORIZONTAL SURFACE AND HAVING TWO RELATIVELY NARROW OPPOSITE FACES EACH OF WHICH IS NARROW ENOUGH TO BE SUCCESSFULLY SCARFED IN A SINGLE PASS AS A TOP HORIZONTAL SURFACE, WHICH COMPRISES POSITIONING THE WORKPIECE WITH SAID RELATIVELY WIDE SURFACES DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY, ADVANCING THE WORKPIECE WHILE SO PO- 